You and I
by SweetYve
Summary: After continuous hangouts with Azusa, Yui feels she likes her kouhai more than a friend. R&R! Collection of one-shots galore!
1. First Step

Azusa stood in front of the stair case that led to the music room.

Today was the day they were going to practice, no more slacking off. Generally being in a club meant using time to do club activities but here in the Light Music Club the activities were mindless banters, enjoying tea and relaxing with sweets. The Houkago Tea Time's meetings rarely had anything that was related to music. But it was ironic. Even if they only practiced just a smudge the outcome of it out left her with pure mirth. It left her curious about how the club is able to play so well despite their problems and lack of practice.

She threw her fist into the air, "Today is the day I'll definitely make a comeback!" Then she quickly glanced around to see if people sweat dropped.

Azusa sighed. Pumping with excitement was something she did out of character but she was getting used to it as a certain person's personality was rubbing off on her.

She ran up the brown steps her twin pigtails bobbing and swaying in the motion. She carefully turned the knob, to find a certain—

"Yui-Senpai?"

"Azu-nyan!"

It was the lighthearted shoulder-length brunette, Yui Hirasawa, who was in her third year. She was smiling blithely as usual watching Ton-chan. It was a wonder how she was always oddly optimistic.

The younger girl looked around the room to find Yui the only one there, "Yui-senpai, where are the others?"

"Ah," Yui put a finger on her chin "I believe they have cleaning duty."

"I see" Azusa closed the door and set her school bag on the chair. "We should really practice today"

Yui lazily narrowed her eyes, "I'm hungry Azu-nyan~ I wish Mugi-chan was here to make us tea"

Azusa frowned sitting at her usual spot, "…Me too…" She suddenly froze, _Crap. My attention is getting diverted again! I'm getting side-tracked. I can't let these distractions__—_

"Azu-nyan, Ton-chan looks hungry can I feed him?" The brunette asked with wide child-like eyes as she glanced at the tank, she pressed her fingers against the tank. The turtle kindly stared at Yui as if he was responding to her.

"O-okay, just feed Ton-chan 5 pellets" she held out her five fingers signifying the number. Yui smiled and nod as she looked for the aquatic turtle pellets.

Instead of anticipating Yui to feed Ton-chan, Azusa walked over to her black guitar case and brought it out. She played simple chords to warm up as she looked at the mirror. "Eh? We still have those stickers? Yui-senpai I thought you cleaned the mirror"

"Ehehehe" Yui rubbed the back of her head, "I did, but I decided to stick new cuter ones."

"You shouldn't put stickers on everything," Azusa dead panned, "But I guess I'll clean it then."

"Azu-nyan you're so strict~"

Azusa frowned, if they continued at this rate nothing would be done, but thank god Mio-senpai wasn't like this.

Mio, Mugi, Ritsu, Yui. If Azusa had to rank the person with the most diligence it would be like that. But if Azusa were to rank the person she was closest with to the most distant one, it would be Yui, Mio, Ritsu, and Mugi. Evidently, she cared most for Yui because throughout the whole 2 years being in the club she was a constant victim of her skin ship. She didn't want to admit it but Yui had incredible focus and retention when she had a clear goal in sight.

Suddenly Yui got an idea, and walked over to Azusa, "Let's go eat out!"

She gawked, "Eat out! But what about practice?" She said and strummed her guitar so Yui could get a wake up call.

"The others are taking they're time, and I have no energy left to practice" Yui yawned motioning her left hand back and forth, "Azu-nyan~, Azu-nyan~," she cooed lovingly as she held the younger girl tightly.

And then she grabbed Azusa's hand running out of the room.

X-x-x

* * *

She had no idea where they were going, but Yui was leading the way with confidence and excitement. Every time she asked where they were headed, she said, "It's a surprise."

"Did I ever tell you I hate surprises?"

She looked over her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, we're here."

They stopped before a… "Arcade?"

"Yeah! What's wrong Azu-nyan?" She rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly. "It's not good, is it?"

"No, it's just—unexpected. I thought you said you were hungry."

Yui was worried for a moment there and ignored her comment, "Eh, let's go in." She grabbed Azusa's arm and dragged her in. They entered and were immediately assaulted by the sound of arcade machines, gaming music, and exploding sound effects. Neon lights lit up on amazing box-shaped machines, whilst people inserted tokens and began to play on them. All sorts of amazing sights beheld her as the sliding doors first parted…

Azusa wasn't much of a gamer, but she was kind of interested in the light-gun cabinets. She liked to shoot stuff. The thought was…therapeutic.

"What games should we play first Azu-nyan?"

Azusa looked around the arcade. "There are so many games to play…oh there!" She pointed a two player shooting game. She raced over to the machine grabbing the blue gun. She looked at her senior who hesitated, "Yui-Senpai? Aren't you going to play?"

Yui waved her hands in dismay, "I-Its co-op so I'll just watch you play"

Azusa frowned "Here" she handed Yui the blue gun, "It's simple you shoot the enemies, don't shoot the hostages."

Yui held the blue light gun shooter while Azusa inserted 2 tokens for each slot. Azusa used the light gun shooter to pick the game settings in the game menu.

"Are you ready senpai?"

"Hn!" Yui nodded attentively.

When the game started Azusa started shooting at the people who were labeled as targets, Yui started mimicking her actions.

"Senpai you killed a hostage!"

"Oh is that so?"

"Eh! You killed another hostage!"

"Sorry the screen proceeds so fast it's hard to follow. It makes my head dizzy" Yui continued, "I ran out of ammo. How do I…gain more?"

"Oh you reload by doing this." Azusa plunge her gun in a downward motion and started shooting again.

Yui watched carefully then tried to imitate Azusa, "Azu-nyan I died!"

"Don't worry you'll spawn again"

X-x-x

* * *

"I feel so liberated!" Yui said, "I don't even know what I was afraid of this entire time."

"Yui-senpai…you're so amazing" Azusa grabbed her senior's hands, "I don't think I ever met anyone who died so much on the first stage! And on top of that killed more hostages than enemies!"

"Heh," This wasn't the reaction Yui was going for but whatever works for her. "I think I'm starting to get it now. It's about confidence. At first I was afraid to fail, but after awhile, I became confident that I _would_ fail."

After a couple excuses, they found themselves competing at the basketball machines. Shooting games? No problem. But basketball? Azusa wasn't as good. The rims were made out of bouncy material, because the ball kept clanking for her.

"She shoots; she scores, and beats the buzzer for the final winning!" Yui raised her arms in triumph, basking in a point total higher than Azusa's. It was a little over-the-top, since she only beat her by two. It was six to four, and it was out of twenty shots, so they both sucked—she just sucked less.

"Oh, wow….what now, Yui-senpai?" Azusa turned around.

She turned; it was a gleaming beacon of cuddly cuteness in a pile of stuffed toys. Every other doll was not as cute as the black cat plush toy. Azusa wanted to touch it, to feel its soft exterior, but it was trapped behind a Plexiglas front,waiting for someone to come along and release it.

Yui followed Azusa staring longingly at the doll in the toy crane machine. She eagerly pulled Azusa over to the classic game and pointed to the black cat, "Do you want this?"

Turning away nervously, "No—it's okay." the girl answered as if it didn't concern her.

"Don't worry about it," the brunette girl assured, she dug around her uniform pocket.

"Yui?"

"Don't underestimate your Senpai. I'll definitely get that plush for you." She pulled out a row of tokens from her pocket.

She only had 6 tokens—only good enough for four tries. It was more than enough. She inserted the coins and grabbed the joystick, which activated the claw. It wouldn't be easy. There was a reason why these machines were always full of prizes, and it had nothing to do with timely restocks. There was skill involved; she had to consider the angle of approach, the claw placement, but the most important factor was simply pure luck.

This machine was different though. There was only one cat plushie in a sea of teddy bears and ducks.

This was going to be difficult. The cat was stuck underneath a pile of bears, a, trying to smother the poor thing with their bodies. It was time to correct this. With her first try, she positioned the claw above them and pushed the red button on the joystick. The claw descended and it grasped the limbs of one duck, one bear, and fox doll. It rose, pulling the three animals out of the way. As the claw carried the toys, they predictably dropped before reaching the dump chute. No matter, she expected that.

Azusa was watching anxiously. She didn't want them, but she didn't want her Senpai to lose either. "You can do it Yui!"

She reloaded the machine and placed the claw over the cat again. Her goal was to reposition it. It was upside down, with its legs sticking up. She couldn't grab it the way it was, so she had to flip it over. The claw dropped and clutched the cat's stubby tail. It ascended, tugging the doll from the company of its evil brethren, until it was dangling by the leg. As the claw snapped into place, the cat jolted loose and fell. Her only prize was air.

Fortunately, the cat had fallen correctly in an upright position. Yui maneuvered the claw over the Plush toy, she made sure to aim the prongs in the radius of the stuff toy and the claw was directly over the prize. The cat stayed put even when the claw snapped into place. She reached into the chute and pulled it out.

She was far too distracted by the cuteness of the doll… thing. While normal cats had beady eyes, sharp claws, thick tails, and strong legs with talons, this cartoon version of the animal looked completely different – its face stretched, and its eyes enlarged, the arms and the legs were completely shrunken, everything about the doll screamed 'kawaii'. Regardless, she still liked it. She hugged it tightly and grinned, burying her face into its softness. "It's so cute! Thank you so much, Yui-senpai! Love you!"

Yui nearly choked on her own tongue.

Realizing what she just said, "… Eh?" Azusa instantly snapped up. "Eh? I-I mean—! Um… no, I—!"

She turned away. Yui knew the girl didn't mean it that way, but seeing her denying so desperately like this, she couldn't help but to think that Azusa actually _did_ really… probably…? — No, no. She was just looking elsewhere to hide her flushed cheeks… Yes, this was all done out of convenience.

Still stuttering, Azusa shook her head rapidly and tried to search for the right word, "I-I meant…!" but her shyness was getting to her, and it was so hard to think – "I-I Yui-senpai…thank you for the stuff toy" She blurted in one breath.

Yui patted her on the head and smiled. To see her happy and flushed was easily worth the effort. "Anything for you, Azu-nyan~ "

"Eh Yui. Aren't you hungry?" she asked.

"…!" Yui almost fell over out of the many things she expected her to say that wasn't one of them, "Now that you mention it..."

X-x-x

* * *

Yui and Azusa walked down the promenade, Azusa walked slightly behind Yui clutching onto her toy, still slightly embarrassed of her stupid child confession.

"La la la la—"

Azusa glanced over at her. She was looking up at the afternoon sky again, singing a lullaby-like song. Her high-pitched voice wasn't so bad when she sang quietly, the girl decided.

"Azu-nyan!" Yui suddenly stopped walking causing Azusa collide onto her back interrupting her thoughts, "Stay here,"

"Eh?" Azusa watched Yui walk inside the nearest oriental store disappearing inside the store. _Hmph she could have just told me she wanted to buy something instead of making me wait,_Azusa huffed.

After a few minutes of standing alone and watching people walk by, Yui returned holding two ice cream cones in her hands.

The girl sighed, "So that's why it took you so long?"

She grinned. "I couldn't help it! I can't make it to a restaurant; I might die of being food deprived."

"Uh huh,"

"So!" Yui held the cones up higher she was kneeling down on one knee, "Strawberry or chocolate?"

Azusa blinked a couple of times before looking at the tempting, sweet, and delicious-looking dessert. "I-it's okay, I'm not really hungry"

Yui looked at the girl, "Are you sure, it's sweet and delicious I'm sure you would like this"

"…" She bit onto her tongue.

Giggling, she continued to tempt her, "This ice-cream looks really good…"

Yui continued, "Look at the soft cream – oh, hey! There are real strawberry bits in this strawberry-flavored one! It looks soooo good! But… what should I do? I can't possible finish them on my own…"

Azusa knew very well that this was all just a play, but she turned back to the girl. And was about to reach for the pink cone, but then, for the slightest second, the slightest _split_ of a second, she could see the brunette twitch a little. The girl shook her head lightly, and changed her hand's direction towards the chocolate cone. "This one,"

She grinned and happily handed it to Azusa. Right away, Yui dug herself into the pink ice-cream, savoring, munching on the strawberry bits whilst smiling to herself as if she's never eaten something so wondrous before.

Azusa couldn't help it but to stare in awe at her child-like innocence. It was just an ice-cream, but the girl looked so, _so_ happy. She turned to her own ice-cream and stared at it. The white cream was starting to melt, but it wasn't dripping down the cone yet. She licked up the melting parts quickly, and wow, the sweet taste just reminded her how much she adored the taste of chocolate, and that her favorite flavor was, in fact, chocolate. Hungrily, she finished the rest of the cone.

Yui watch Azusa finish her ice cream cone as they strolled down the streets, "Azu-nyan, lets take a picture!"

"O-okay…" Azusa agreed, it was weird it was like her senpai thought of everything random walking down the streets.

Yui took out her pink flip phone holding it in front of them, they both in unison held out peace signs.

Click!

"I'm going to send it to Ritsu, Mio and Mugi"

X-x-x

* * *

At home Yui clutched onto one of the pillows on the couch in the living room, Ui was making her dinner. She blankly stared at her notebook that she was supposed to be studying.

_"It's so cute! Thank you so much, Yui-senpai! Love you!"_

She swallowed. Out of everything, she was reminded of _this_ particular scene.

"… _Love you!"_

… It wasn't even for real, intentional, or, more like, she didn't even mean it _that_ way!

"… _Love you!"_

Yui closed her eyes. She had to stop thinking about this…

"… _Yui-senpai… Love you!"_

Seriously, stop. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer. _Please don't let me be blushing_, was what she was thinking. Well, how could she possibly _not_?

"… _Yui-senpai…, I love you!" _

_ssSpenaifdgjdfllkgeyoufg_ Oh god, now she was filling in random words! Yui bit hard onto her lower lip as her body tensed up, she decided to roll around the carpet to help her ease her mind.

Yui's head started to feel light as she rolled happily on the floor. But suddenly her sister's voice started distorting as she started talking.

"OnEe-cHAn ….DInNERR..and it's …READAYYY!"

But only one thing was on her mind.

Azu-nyan~


	2. Closeness

It was a strange feeling.

A strange perception that she wanted to leave her conscious; they were all thoughts about the ….Light Music Club. But they weren't thoughts of approbation.

Countless times she thought of leaving, when she had first joined them, there was an unbearable sinking feeling. It was like a hollow was forming in the pit of her stomach. She can, she _can_ leave them and join a better club. A much more ameliorate and refined club.

Like the Jazz club.

She wouldn't be lonely in the Jazz club. There was Jun. And by the looks of it Ui could join too. A self-proclaimed novice guitarist shouldn't even be in a club like this. The members were way too laid back, lazy and practice was one of their last priorities. And the way they treated her when she first was recruited? Like a toy. Like a dress up doll, like a pet. Well, she felt like a pet when Yui petted her to calm her down.

Her parents wouldn't even mind if she joined the Jazz club because they were working in a jazz band themselves—they would have been thrilled.

But why?

Still something kept her there. Was it faith? No. Absolutely not, ludicrous. Azusa didn't believe in fate, destiny, or divine providence—she believed in probability, statistics, and chance.

The thought that some people are doomed to failure offsets any good fate gives them. At first she thought it was a fluke. After much consideration and thought, she had to conclude that HTT performances were nothing more than a statistical aberration. Nothing more, nothing less.

The twin pigtailed girl sat alone in her room. Staring at her notebook, her notes were filled in with neatly written formulas and lessons. It was a wonderful example of note-taking. She let out a sigh, almost imperceptible as a sleepy exhalation of air. After studying for a while you begin to feel lethargic. That this point even the wall seemed more interesting. She put her head on the wooden table, prompting her elbows down. She pressed her cheek against the warm wood. Odd, the table wasn't cold as she was expecting it was to be.

Hearing a knock on her door, she gathered her composure. Only one person does that and that's her mom. The door creaked open to reveal a woman. She had long black midnight hair and porcelain skin. She wore an elegant dress with frills that billowed at the bottom. Azusa never thought she ever seen her mother in a pair of pants. She preferred the distinctly feminine mode of dress, skirts, dresses, and the like.

"Azusa," she called out, a soft smile on her lips. "I'm heading out to Jazz practice. You're dad will be here shortly, probably forgetting something." Azusa nodded her head slowly, watching her mom's eyes shift to the desk seeing her daughter studying. "I'll leave you to your studying" And with that she shut the door.

The young girl looked around her room in a gaze her eyes stared at the wall following the patterns it made. There's always that moment of disorientation after you pull your head out of a book, TV, or portable game. The world overwhelms you and you need some time to take it all in.

For some strange reason she was waiting, waiting for something interesting to occur. The past week, the seniors were studying for midterms. So was she. So the light music club studied in the library afterschool, to tutor Yui. Because of that Yui's frequent hugs came less and less as she shoved papers in front of her Senpai.

The young girl looked at her window, on some days, the sun would rise with a life-filled light; on the other days, it would carry an unwanted grimness with it. And today was one of those 'other days'. The differences were small—in the colors, in the textures of the surface, the density of the light that glittered from it. Sometimes they were huge—when the sky went gray and the wind rose. She didn't like it, not at all. The room lit with the same melancholic bluish-white lights. It was a dark blue, white melancholic… light – all mixed together in the bizarre, and yet most beautiful way. As if on cue Azusa's eyelids started to droop.

_Bzzz Buzz Bzzz!_

Azusa's eyes stayed open; as if the world was forbidding her to sleep she grabbed her vibrating cell phone.

She flipped her phone open to find a text message on the screen. She pressed it.

**Ui : "Hi Azusa, what's up?" **

Azusa stared blankly at the dully lit screen, and decided to text her back.

**Azusa : I'm studying for midterms, you?**

Send

As if almost instantly her phone vibrates and she checked the screen.

**Ui : Funny, me and Onee-chan are studying for midterms too. If you don't mind do you want to study together? **

Azusa blinked; it was an opportunity, something Azusa couldn't resist. She wasn't going to sleep on her table as if someone dumped a dummy on the table. She quickly replied.

**Azusa: Sure, what time should I come over to your house? **

**Ui: If you want Onee-chan and I can come to your house instead. **

The black-haired girl twitched, she never let people come over her house when she was alone. It usually led to irresponsibility. Maybe, she should decline and make an excuse. Maybe… but everyone has a first for everything.

After several seconds of complying she decided to texted Ui her address and closed her phone.

Naturally, Azusa's eyes began to close; 'I'lljust close my eyes for 5 minutes' she thought before the world became a swirl of colors before she could respond, the world rushed past her.

_Ding dong!_

The sudden noise woke her.

_Ding dong!_

It was probably them. Azusa looked that her clock the red written numbers that read '3:13'. Instead of sleeping for 5 minutes, she had slept a good 20 minutes. The girl yawned like a waking cat, as her garnet eyes slowly opened and gained focus. As if like a cat she then stretched her arms out

_Ding dong! _That was probably Ui.

Azusa rose up and carefully walked down the stairs, heading towards the entrance.

_Ding dong!_

_Ding dong!_

_Ding dong!_

_Ding dong!_

That was now definitely Yui. Azusa opened the door, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Azu-nyan!" Her senpai greeted, oozing with optimism from every side. Ui was standing next to her, smiling blithely. She was holding a plastic bag, a good chance that food would be inside.

"Come inside" Azusa insisted. Almost instantly Azusa realized she didn't prepare anything for her guests. Not even something as trivial as tea.

"So this is where you live..." Yui said inspecting her house as if she was an investigator.

"Here, I brought some food" Ui handed her the bag, "its sushi."

"Thank you" Azusa held it as she continued, "Would any of you guy's like tea?"

"Sure, where's the kitchen?" Ui queried.

X-x-x

It was 3:20 P.M; Yui and Azusa were inside Azusa's room, to study. Unfortunately Ui wanted to set up the sushi and make tea for them. Azusa frowned; it's a crippling realization when you realize you suck being a host, and one of your guests is doing the honors of cooking.

On the other hand Yui was fascinated by every little thing in her room, she checked drawers, examined the floor, under the bed, the table, etc. While Azusa was sitting behind her coffee table with a few books open.

"Azu-nyan, you're my partner in this crime, I'm guessing the victim in this crime scene had to bend down something like th-"

"Would you please stop it? You're not a crime scene investigator!" Azusa scoffed, if Ritsu was here she would gladly go along with this act, it was almost scary, they were almost like soul mates.

"Actually, I'm a forensics expert. My job is to collect physical evidence from a crime scene to determine who did what to whom and how did they do it. I've been asked to come here today by the Mayor and Sheriff Ui to present our analysis of the evidence in this case to your community."

"You're not going to your scene anymore. You're going home."

Yui slightly crestfallen, "You're suspending me?"

"Yes, now close the door" Azusa said; maybe if she went along with her skit she would start studying.

Yui closed the door.

"I meant from the outside,"

Abruptly, the door swung opened from the outside revealing Ui, "Azusa-Chan,"

"Yes?"

"I'm heading out to the market, you ran out of soy sauce."

"Eh?" Azusa waved her hands in dismay, "It's not really necess—"

"No," Yui said, "A meal without soy sauce, isn't complete. I know from experience."

"Alright then" Ui clasped her hands, "Don't worry its going to be a quick trip, I don't mind at all doing this" Azusa gawked; did the Hirasawas make every little decision without consult?

"Hold on." She wanted to stop her; a host shouldn't treat a guest like this. This was her _house_ after all. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Ui gave a reassuring smile, "No it's not necessary. It'll be quick I promise"

"Don't confuse soy sauce with sugar, it happens a lot" Yui mentioned as her sister closed the door.

There was a moment of silence to hear Ui's footsteps gradually disappear. Yui eyed her room and walked towards the tall brown wooden bookshelf.

"What is it now, Yui-senpai?" Azusa dropped her textbook and caught Yui staring at the bookshelf.

"Can I read that Manga? I promise after I read it we'll get to studying."

"Fine. Then grab it already."

"It'd be no problem if I was seven feet tall, but I'm not. Do you have a stepladder or something?"

"Give me a minute." She disappeared into a closet and returned with a stepladder.

"Like this?"

"Perfect."

Azusa carried it in and set it next to the bookshelf, "I'll take care of it. This is my house after all."

"Careful, Azu-nyan" Yui chimed.

Azusa climbed up a few steps until she was able to reach the top. "What volume do you want?" The shadows were too dark up there. She was having a difficult time seeing anything. "Can you turn on the lights for me?"

"Sure, where is it?"

She pointed to a panel close by. "Over there."

Yui walked over to it and found multiple switches. "Which one is it?"

"The one on the left I think."

She flipped it.

"Eek!" The ceiling fan started to spin, startling her, and made her lose balance.

"Azu-nyan!" She yelled. She bolted over in time to break her fall.

**UGOOOOOHUGF!**

She landed awkwardly on her, her elbows and knees pressing painfully into Yui's stomach. Azusa was on top.

"Owww… It hurts" Yui groaned.

It was hard since their limbs were tangled. She wrenched her arm free and tried to tug her leg out from underneath her. "Sorry."

There was a moment of silence. Azusa wasn't very good at knowing what other people are thinking, but she does know that you can see tragedy, real tragedy, sitting just inside a person's gaze. You can almost always see where a person has been if you look hard enough. However Yui's only told lies. They only created mysteries and confusion.

They heard the front door open.

Azusa's head snapped to the foyer and saw her father. Her body froze.

The man looked up to see two teenagers, one of them his daughter, embracing each other on the floor. Just hugging on the carpet, "Oh," he let out plainly. Azusa and her father exchanged bewildered glances, he lowered his head. "Sorry to interrupt. I-I'll come back later."

She detached herself forcefully.

"Argggh!" Yui cried out painfully.

"W-wait, otousan!"

X-x-x

"Sorry for misunderstanding," Mr. Nakano apologized. "When I saw you two, I just assumed I intruded upon an intimate moment."

"That's not it at all!" Azusa explained. "It was just an accident."

"In that case, I am Azusa's father," Mr. Nakano introduced. He certainly looked like a musician; he wore transparent spectacles and kept an unkempt appearance.

Yui rubbed her head in embarrassment. "Nice to meet you. My name is Hirasawa Yui. I'm a friend from school~"

"That's right," Azusa concurred audibly. "She's a poor student with terrible grades, so I invited her and her sister to study at our house so that I can save her from dropping out of school and becoming a NEET."

Yui gawked at her. What the hell kind of explanation was that? But becoming a NEET? That actually sounded possible at this rate of her life.

"That sounds great, helping the unfortunate; I came home to grab my instrument. I'll be out of your way then" Mr. Nakano said before grabbing a holdall and hugging his only daughter, he disappeared out the door.

Yui rubbed her ribcage tenderly, "That really hurt"

"Are you okay?" Azusa asked worriedly. "It's my entire fault. I told you to flip the wrong switch."

"No not that, your words hurt. I'm not going to become a NEET. But, I'm just glad you're alright."

Azusa smiled at her genuine concern; Yui's words were warm and touching. She quickly turned away, "I-It was punishment for not studying."

"Huh?" The taller girl leaned forward slightly, "what was that?"

"Nothing."

_Ding Dong! _

Startling them, Azusa opened the door, Ui finally returned. But she bought more than just soy sauce. She was holding up a few plastic bags as well. "…! I'll help you carry those"

X-x-x

After eating, the three girls went to study in Azusa's room. It was around 4:20 P.M. They were doing some independent studying. After a keeping her head in the books for a while now, she decided to look up. Ui was sitting on a chair and was reading a book.

Yui was sleeping on her table. Azusa gawked and walked over to her side of the table. She looked at her notebook. It was a drawing of a cat that had her hairstyle. Underneath the 4 year old looking drawing, were the written print "Azu-nyan LOVE!".

Azusa eyes widened in horror and cringed, '_Yui-senpai!... Scary!' _She quickly walked back and plopped herself down at the table again and watched her Senpai sleep.

How odd, the clumsy and slightly-annoying guitarist can appear so vulnerable and… cutewhen asleep. She was also beautiful. Her rich brown hair fell across her cheek framing her face. The kouhai felt as though she could sit and stare at Yui for hours and never get tired of it, even if she was snoring, but it was kitten soft.

Azusa had to reconsider. Maybe the club didn't work its way around with luck. Even if the club didn't practice enough, being with them was fun. And isn't that enough? Enjoying time with the people you care about? The performances were even amazing for an amateur high school band.

The younger girl looked at her senior and again walked over to her. With that, Azusa gave the sleeping girl a smile before leaning in to embrace her. She's always wanted to do this; she's always wanted to hug the woman instead of her lousy embraces. For a long time, Azusa felt that it was important to, somehow, give this woman attention, affection, and above all, just some sort of emotion, because she could tell that Yui really wanted these things.

The girl remained still. Right, Azusa remembered; she was always the one being held by this girl, and never the other way around. Was it supposed to feel this pleasant? Was this the reason why Yui-senpai could keep herself in control? Was it all merely thanks to a… a hug? Well, she had to admit, this didn't feel bad or anything – rather, it felt kind of good. It gave her this strange, foreign, and… secure feeling that she never felt.


	3. Angel

**A/N: **Okay I want to say that I kind of tinkered with their personalities so if they seem OOC I apologize! (Angst-y chapter)

**Angel**

The music room was unnaturally quiet today.

The only thing to fill in the silence was the scratching of a lone pencil against the paper of a blacked-haired girl's journal. She used to love the sound until she realized it was the _only_ thing she could hear.

Azusa sighed and dropped her pencil, reaching upwards to brush her jagged bangs out of her eyes before rubbing her hazel brown eyes with her knuckles. Her eyes distractedly wandered around the almost empty practice room, scanning the photos tacked up on the walls in a vain effort to give the place some color. There was one particular picture hung: Houkago Tea Time Member's posing together the day she joined. The four senior girls had drawn fake eyes on they're eyelids, closing their eyes when the camera clicked. Looking at that picture made Azusa's eyes sting, and she had to tear herself away from it before the stinging turned into something worse.

Her eyes found the empty chairs around hers and sighed again; it never used to be so vacant. At least a week ago this bland room was practically overflowing with the sounds of lively conversation and the tinkling, almost musical-like shimmer of her soft laughter coupled with other cheerfulness tones. Looking at the chair adjacent to hers, someone used to sit in that chair almost every day; her vivid browns eyes would be alight with fresh memories of the events she just returned from her newfound driving experience and her mouth would be moving in a blur as she passionately explained them in full, colorful detail. Every few minutes her hand would move upwards to adjust her yellow hair pins. Every time she finished a story she would reach into her holdall and pull out a little souvenir for her from her drives; the last one she had received was a keychain of a black cat.

It had been nearly a week since Yui gave her that keychain. The seniors of their high school were at a fieldtrip to Kyoto for a week. And Azusa fell behind on what the seniors been up to. She didn't really care much for what all the seniors were actually _doing_, anyway; what mattered to her most was that she wanted to see her friends again. She wanted to see Yui, more specifically, but she didn't know if that was possible anymore.

They recently took an entrance exam to go to a woman's university. Which they all recently crammed for, they didn't have time to mingle around and sip tea like a child. She waited and she waited and she waited, but they would rarely even show up for the past _month_, even if they were on a field trip for the past week, it made no difference. It was like they were avoiding her on_ purpose_ and the world was on their side helping them.

She checked her cell phone for any missed calls, text messages or voice mails but there were none. There was no text from Yui which was very uncharacteristic like of her. She looked at the dully lit screen one last time and closed it.

The hours seemed to stretch to no end with her lack of presence, to the point where she began to lose track of the days. She walked down the halls every day hoping she would be smuggled with Yui's hugs. She wished she would hear her tapping shoe heels against the wooden brown floors approaching her, but as always the silence would answer her and the hope that had been building up inside for the past few weeks would dwindle little by little.

Azusa's hands curled into tight, pale fists and she blinked rapidly to rid her eyes of the bothersome tears that blurred and distorted her vision. She clenched her fists. Her muscles stiffened, and she couldn't bring her head up – it felt as if it weighted a ton She watched dismally as the clear, salty droplets of water tumbled down and splashed the page of her journal, sniffling at the now-ruined lyrics for a new song she was hoping to write for the club.

Her hollow chest ached in her absence and she clutched at it as she pushed her journal away from her. She didn't like it when this happened - it always made her feel weaker and less powerful than she already did. There was this empty void inside her that she couldn't erase. It was a recurring pain that never seemed to end. She felt lonely.

She didn't want to admit it but she knew why they didn't want her anymore, and that was probably why it hurt so much. There was a reason why she knew she was never going to see them again.

They were always busy, moving onto the next step of their lives. Soon before she knew it they wouldn't see her anymore, they'd have new friends. They would be driving to their University then supporting themselves with a job.

That left no time for them to go and visit her.

The thought of thinking Yui with someone else in University made Azusa feel she was being stabbed with a knife. But maybe she would be better off with someone else - Someone better than Azusa and prettier. Someone who would laugh at her jokes, and wouldn't lash at her when she was becoming too playful. Someone the complete opposite of what Azusa was. Someone Azusa couldn't even hold a candle to.

Jun noticed the change in her behavior and had something to say about this; after Azusa's last encounter with Yui. And sadly, she couldn't be more right.

"_We all knew it was going to happen, Azusa. Do you wanna know why they're ditching you lately, Azusa? They're one year older. They have more important things to worry about, I mean if HTT was important to them wouldn't they be here right now?" _She remembered the exact way Jun had paused in front of her just to sneer in her direction, and the small girl stifled a sob, _"I don't mean to be mean but I'm toughening you up! And if you're just going to cry over it there's nothing I can do!"_ _Azusa_ remembered glancing downwards at her trembling fists, and cowering again as Jun leaned away and sighed, _"If you want to join the Jazz club, we are always looking for guitarist. Just face it Azusa, senpai has just found something else that's actually worth spending time on"_

After that the poor black-haired girl couldn't sleep. She couldn't even write. She was crippled with the harrowing thought of Yui had better things to do than hang out with her and that hanging out without her was a better choice, and to make things worse Jun made a habit out of these miserable little visits; she would come in at least twice a week to update how the Jazz club would be happy to have her. She also told her one time she heard music coming from the music room when she peaked through the door she realized HTT was practicing without her.

Her tear-rimmed, hazel orbs slid over to the forgotten journal laying just an arms' length away, and she felt a dry laugh escape her lips. Yeah, she was practically useless in the band; she didn't provide tea, sweets, and expenses like Mugi did or help plan the training camps like Mio. She couldn't sing and play at the same time like Yui and Mio. And she would never handle being a leader of a band, a leader had to have strong firm convictions and lead without misusing their power and Ritsu however wasn't the most righteous out of all of them but she was still helluva good leader. What did the twin tailed girl contribute? Pointless lyrics that would never be a song.

The girl brought a hand up to cover her mouth to prevent herself from crying too loudly. It was pointless, however, as she was already sobbing.

"Azu-nyan?" Yui had just stepped into the music room with her disheveled head slightly tiled to the side; she must've noticed the streaks of tears on her face because her eyes widened in shock and she dashed frantically to her side. "Kyoto was so fun! …Are you okay?"

Though she had been waiting for weeks for this moment she really didn't feel like seeing her right now. "I'm fine, Yui-senpai." Her voice was thick with tears; why she seemed so concerned, she had no idea.

"No you're not," She replied sternly as she knelt down. After tossing the gloves to the side he reached for her hands, and there was a strange stirring in her empty chest when she felt her fingers weave with hers. "Azu-nyan," She glanced up at her with beseeching cobalt eyes, "If there's something bothering you please tell me - I'll make it better, I promise." She paused for a minute, looking away, and then her eyes returned to hers. "I can't stand to see you cry - to know that something's hurting you so much...it hurts me too."

Azusa narrowed her eyes, "You shouldn't make promises you won't keep"

"Oh! Hey, that reminds me," Yui dug into her blue holdall taking out a keychain in light blue reading the words 'Angel'. She held it up into the air as the chain swung, "Do you like it?"

Azusa stared at the jingling keychain, "You should give it to someone who deserves it. It would give a better meaning to the word"

"W-what?" A eyebrow quirked upwards in confusion and swallowed hard," You usually like my souvenirs"

"Just a call would have been fine or a text" The cat-like girl answered.

Yui widened her eyes, "I didn't forget to text or call you it's just my phone died when I got to Kyoto and Ui forgot to remind me to pack my charger." Yui rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly. "Ehehe..."

"I understand," The small girl turned away from her so she wouldn't see the tears fall, she was embarrassed by those miserable tears that were rolling unstoppably down her cheeks. "You've been busy with a lot with school" She hiccuped, "and there are better things to do—"

Yui's brown eyes widened and lowered her head lowered in shame, "I know what you're thinking, and it's not true."

Her head snapped up at the latter. "W-what are you talking about?"

Yui shook her head and hesitantly reached for her hands again, and she breathed a sigh of relief, "I know I haven't been spending a lot of time with you lately, and with graduation, and everything going on it's a perfectly reasonable for you to assume that I didn't have any time for you and forgot about you."

She took the words right out of her mouth; she nodded as more tears cascaded down her face, and she read the pain, the desire to wipe those tears away on her face.

"Well, despite of what you may think it's far from the truth," She explained much to her surprise, "Infact Mio, Ritsu, Mugi and I wanted to give you a present because we're leaving— I wanted to give you something you would never want to forget! Don't you understand? This whole time we've been thinking about you."

She blinked as more tears trailed down her cheeks. "Y-you... guys were?"

She laughed and pulled her to her feet. "Of course _I_ have," She grinned as she reached up to wipe away her tears; her skin tingled at the sensation of her gentle fingers skimming across her wet skin, "You know there's nobody else in the universe that matters more to me than you, Azu-nyan. I thought you'd know that already."

She felt a warm bubble swelling up inside of her, and suddenly she felt guilty for being so frustrated with her. Her face remained hidden in her shoulder as they held onto each other. Her sobs have also died down as time went by; she was now trying to regain her breath, but those annoying spasms from her lungs prevented her from doing so.

"Take a deep breath," Yui said, realizing that the girl couldn't breathe.

She did as she was told, but it was too difficult – she couldn't even control her lungs.

Yui started to rub the girl's back, helping to ease that uncomfortable feeling.

"I'm sorry, Azu-nyan," She murmured into her hair as she released their friendly hug, "I'll make it up to you, I promise - I'll visit you every day after I graduate, and-"

The warm bubble inside of her popped; she shook her head and pushed herself away from her. "No, Yui don't apologize you did nothing wrong," She growled as she swiped at her eyes to remove the tears, "Don't you get it?" When she shook her head and stared back in confusion the frustration inside cackled wildly like fire, "There's no need to worry about me; you're _should_ to spend time with Mio, Ritsu and Mugi. They...they need you more than I do." Her eyes lowered to her shoes "I'm better off by myself."

"Don't say that," Yui pulled her in again and shook her head, "You're more important to me than anyone in this school, Azusa," She touched her forehead with hers and laughed nervously, "I can't explain why, but I'm drawn to you. You're my angel. Actually you're Houkagos Tea Time's angel."

She sniffled again as more tears trickled out of her glassy hazel eyes. Her brows scrunched together. "But angels have wings! And what makes me so special? I d-don't even help. I'm worthless to the band" Out a fit of anger Azusa threw the keychain down on the floor.

"-The only thing I _can_ do is make these silly lyrics of Ton-chan that don't mean anything-"

"They're not stupid or silly," Yui said looking at her journal, "I don't think that one's silly at all. You're not worthless, Azu-nyan. You're kind, selfless and sweet, and you're _not_ worthless to the band."

She flushed momentarily, but her frustration overcame it and she shook her head and her twin pigtails were bobbing and swaying in the motion. "I don't know how else I can convince you. I'm not worth your time. I _am_ worthless," She muttered stubbornly, "Look at me, I don't do anything to help you guys and also I-I couldn't even give you guys chocolate on valentines day without hel— "

Yui handed her the keychain back, "You may think your useless to the band but your not, in fact you've helped your Senpais so much and without you we wouldn't know where we would be. So at first we didn't know what to give you until, we agreed to make up a song for you."

The girl stood still and listened.

Yui continued, "I wanted to give you a song but not just any song. It needed to be something on 'a world scale', worthy of your praise! But after doing a lot of thinking and a lot of drawing, I realize that the song we should make for you shouldn't be any different from our 'normal' music, because our style was the thing that brought us all together in the first place. Angels are like… erm... diamonds. They can't be made, you have to find them. Each one is unique. Your our angel, Azusa and sometimes your wings a little hard to see."

Azusa could feel a blush creep on her cheeks,"Yui-senpai...Thank you"

Yui rubbed the back of her head again embarrassed by saying corny words. "So…how about a make up kiss!" Yui playfully said as she puckered towards Azusa's face.

SLAP!

Yui rubbed the side of her red cheek, "Heh...nevermind. But come on~" Yui said and took Azusa's hand.

"Senpai, where are we going?"

"To the rooftop"


End file.
